MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- For the first time in decades, low-income teenagers in Wisconsin will have free access to driver's education classes.
Last year, Gov. Tony Evers signed the "Driver Education Grant Program" into law, which sets aside $6 million dollars in funds from the 2023-2025 biennial budget.
Those dollars will go toward making full tuition payments to driver's ed programs and classes across Wisconsin -- covering 30 hours of classroom time, six hours of observation time, and six hours of behind-the-wheel training for students under 18 who qualify for free or reduced lunch.
“It’s been 20 years since the state funded driver's education," said Franz Meyer, a member with Common Ground. "The number of people taking driver's ed has been going down, while the number of people driving recklessly and without a license has been going up.”
The new first-come, first-serve program is designed to tackle not only reckless driving, but equity issues and racial disparity in the state.
In a 2016 study by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, only 30% of Black and Hispanic 18-year-olds held a license, as opposed to the 75% of White 18-year-olds.
"We are all humans at the end of the day, we're all equal," said Jahmorris Torres Currin, a 19-year-old student at the Milwaukee Area Technical College. "It's insane how there's not more diverse people like us getting these higher numbers."
Torres Currin said he's seen the city's reckless driving epidemic first-hand.
"Driving is a responsibility," Torres Currin said. "I not only want to inspire my younger brother, but I also want to inspire a whole generation of younger kids... I want them to be safe behind the wheel as well."
Wisconsin currently requires youth to enroll in driver's ed or a similar program before they can obtain a license. But that can cost hundreds of dollars.
For Khalil Stewart, 17, the launch of this program is a game-changer for his entire family.
"It's like one more step closer to freedom," Stewart said. “I saw $600, I’m seeing $500, if I work a couple of days, I won’t get that. If I take that away from my auntie, from my great-aunt, when she pays for everything, if I ask her for that, that could be the possibility of groceries for the week. That could be my family being more on and stable than just me driving.”
That's what drove Torres Currin and Stewart to previously speak out at the state Capitol building and share their stories of how this program would be impactful.
"A new opportunity, something that could actually bring change," Stewart said. "Because now it's like we have one leg up. We're getting even."
Besides qualifying for the free or reduced lunch, students can be enrolled in public, charter, choice, or homeschools.
Once their application is approved, the grant will be applied directly to their school or program of choice.
